Pucker Up: The Lip Balm Edit

My lips are noticeably drier in the winter, it is probably not helped by the long lasting lipsticks and liquid lipsticks that I am wearing. I have lip balms everywhere, in coat pockets, bags and in the car. The Lip Balm Edit is a selection of the ones I am currently using.

My love for citrus is well recorded in this corner of cyberspace so a mineral oil free lip balm, that costs only £4 and smells intensely of pink grapefruit is a joy add the fact that it is available on the high street (thanks Body Shop) and you can understand why this is my addiction. The texture is softer than the Fresh and Bamford balms and it has absolutely no tingle on the lips. This is the balm that I apply even when I don’t need to because of THE SMELL. If you like grapefruit scented products you need this.

The use of fermented Paw Paw (papaya) in skincare is commonplace in Australia but it is a new-ish idea in the UK. Dr Paw Paw is a multi use balm that has anti microbial and anti bacterial properties as a result of the paw paw. This is advertised as a multi purpose balm as opposed to being strictly a lip balm so in theory it can be used on the hair, cuticles and any rough areas.

The range has quite recently added tinted balms to the range. The idea being that they can be used to colour the lips and cheeks. On my rich skintone, I have to have quite alot of product on the skin for the peach pink tone to show which does not work for me. A thin layer doesnt show colour but that suits me fine. This product contains mineral oil

Bamford is a brand I have come to know through their bath and body ranges but they are a real British Lifestyle brand with a skincare for the face and a gorgeous capsule edit of clothing and accessories. For a brand with eco-luxe heritage, their Botanic Lip Balm is very reasonably priced at £12. All the ingredients are organic – the base oils include coconut, olive and sunflower seed oil. It is fragranced with grapefruit, rose, bergamot, pink grapefruit and peppermint oil. So, whilst this lip balm is not overly minty and therefore wearable, it does have a high number of essential oils in it which have been known to irritating on the skin – an interesting choice for an organic range. This is not a product that I would share with the Mr as it is quite glossy on the lips but it is definitely one that I would gift to my #greenbeauty mates.

I am not good at wearing SPF in the winter but I am good at wearing SPF lip balm all year round. The top lip is more prone to damage from UV rays the then bottom lip, especially at the cupids bow where the rays are reflected so an SPF lip balm is a sensible thing to use. The UltraSun Lip balm is housed in the traditional chapstick style packaging which means that it does not have the purse factor of some of the balm in this edit but it is easy to apply and easy to carry around. At £6 it is very affordable. It does contain mineral oil and beeswax if those is an ingredient that you are avoiding but it also has, black current seed oil, meadowfoam seed oil and a little bit of shea butter and SPF30 which means that it is great if you are in the sun, but it also works well as a day to day product. Definitely a unisex product, the faint scent of black currant is not off putting to the Mr and it is a real benefit that the finish is not shiny.

The Fresh Sugar Nourishing Lip Balm (Advanced Therapy) is £24. Interestingly it is not the most expensive lip balm that I have ever purchased (that would be Sisley) but of this edit it is the priciest. Second thing to note is that this is a minty balm and I am not a fan of mint in lip products. That said, I don’t feel like my lips are being stabbed by bees so I can and do wear it. This balm has quite a hard texture so it is not the easiest to get out of the jar. On the lips it does not have a super glossy texture nor is it super sticky.

Each balm is used at different occasions. I keep the Ultrasun in the car as application is easy. The Fresh lip balm is what I tend to use in the evening before bed, Bamford and The Body Shop are on rotation in my bag and the Dr Paw Paw despite the colour is used over water based moisturisers on my hands to lock in moisture.